Sebastian Heisele

Date of birth: 8. August 1988Hometown: Dillingen / Donau

Early Days

Sebastian was first introduced to Golf at the age of 12. He quickly showed promise in winning his first junior tournament which was soon followed by a good junior career which saw him become the youngest ever Club Champion (Emirates Golf Club, Dubai, UAE) in the UAE at age 15. Sebastian competed for the National Junior Order of Merit and managed to attain a Scratch Handicap in the same year.

With limited playing opportunities in the UAE, Sebastian followed an invitation to join the David Leadbetter Academy in Florida, USA in 2005. After two dedicated years at the Academy, Sebastian was recruited to the University of Colorado – Boulder, to continue his higher studies and join the Golf Team. After some difficulties settling in, the young German gradually established himself as a leading player and led the team to multiple highlights on the College Scene, including two victories during his tenure in Boulder. Sebastian cut his time in Boulder short and graduated with a Bachelor in Architecture at the end of 2011.

ProGolf Tour

In the Summer of 2010, Sebastian tasted his first experience of Professional Golf by competing as an amateur on the ProGolf Tour, which was highlighted by a superb sixth place finish at the Fürst Fugger Privatbank. The following Summer, Sebastian once again participated in a number of ProGolf Tour Events. He quickly excelled his previous best mark with a superb victory at the Schloss Moyland Golf Resort Classic, becoming only the second Amateur, joining Martin Kaymer, to secure a victory on the ProGolf Tour Circuit and in doing so leaped onto the German Golf Scene. Following his second successful spell as an Amateur on the EPD Tour in 2011, Sebastian decided to join the Pro Ranks in January 2012 and compete in a full season of the ProGolf Tour in order to seek a speedy graduation.While transitioning to the Professional Ranks was tough for the tall German, 2012 and 2013 ultimately proved to be valuable years needed to learn and adopt to the Professional game. While 2012 and 2013 showed promise with several top finishes including two runner up and two third place finishes, 2014 turned out to be Sebastians breakthrough. While contemplating life during a long break away from golf, Sebastian would find new fire within himself, leading to victory in his third event of the season, the Dar Es Salam Open in Morocco. Eight events later, Sebastian once again topped the standings, winning the Gut Bissenmoor Classic and by way of finishing off 11 of 13 Events in the top 10, ultimately sealed graduation to the Challenge Tour as the second ranked player in the rankings.

Challenge Tour

Entering Europe's second tier, Sebastian would once again take time to adapt to the new challenges. While playing steadily for most of the first half of the season, an urge to push for more would ultimately end in a mid season slump seeing all his chances of a good Road to Oman finish slip out of grabs in his Rookie Season. ’22’ seemed to follow Sebastian everywhere he went in 2015 finishing in 22. Place five times - not remotely good enough to advance to Europe's Elite. With experience on his side and after seeking tutelage of renowned Psychologist Bob Rotella, 2016 was off to a flying start having earned full playing rights on the Asian Tour and finishing fourth in the Challenge Tour season opener, the Barclays Kenya Open.

With two more top 15 finishes in his next two Challenge Tour starts, Sebastian honourably elected to forgo his Asian Tour status early in the year to focus on graduating to the European Tour at years end and fulfilling a lifelong dream. Highlighted by another fourth place finish at the Le Vaudreuil Challenge, the German would ultimately fall short of his dream, finishing 28th in the Final Road to Oman, just outside the 16. Position meaning automatic promotion.

European Tour

Not all was lost for the Munich resident at the end of 2016 as his steady season dealt him a second chance to qualify for the European Tour through the gruelling Qualifying School. With exemption for the Final Stage in hand by virtue of his Challenge Tour Standing, Sebastian ultimately delivered a gutsy final days performance to claim promotion in Golfs most stressful week, claiming his ticket to the European Tour by finishing in 19. Position.2017 will likely again be an uphill battle for Sebastian but a 17th Place finish in the season opening Alfred Dunhill Championship certainly suggests the young German will not go down without a fight.